


Cliffside

by Samoying



Category: Undertale
Genre: Alphys - Freeform, Mettaton - Freeform, Sans - Freeform, Undyne - Freeform, undertale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 14:37:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6859066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samoying/pseuds/Samoying
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote this for a contest, but I scrapped it and wrote another when I realized it didn't fit the contest's theme. Anyway, enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote>





	Cliffside

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a contest, but I scrapped it and wrote another when I realized it didn't fit the contest's theme. Anyway, enjoy it!

                Papyrus stood on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the vast expanse of trees below. From another rather uneventful day of pursuing seemingly non-existent human beings, he chose to take a moment’s rest while surveying the landscape and take in the fresh winter air. Of course, as Papyrus is a man of dedication, other thoughts racked his mind, or the rather empty cavity that would hold something quite similar if anything at all.

                For the moment his expressive and flamboyant personality was overcome by a sudden sense of concern and seriousness that what normally uncharacteristic. As the wind blew, he stood firm without any hesitation to shiver. His thoughts continued.

                He could only look down.

                The bottom of the near vertical cliff face was obscured by a never ending and forever present gradient of darkness, created by the very shadow of the cliff itself atop the canopy. It was colder and would make anyone uneasy to look at for any period of time, but there he stood as the wind eventually slowed to a passive stillness, resting his scarf loosely onto his shoulders.

                “I don’t understand.” He said, with a now saddened expression. “Sans, why do you feel the way you do? Is it me? Am I too hard on you?”

                No other words seemed to hold Papyrus on the subject of his brother as well as the word _lazy_ , however he seemed to know better than to classify it as that. It was difficult to pin point what to say, what to talk about, or even how to discuss it to anyone other than himself. What wore him on the worst was that it truly felt like his fault; it felt like he needed to explain himself as the cause more than anything.

                He took deep sigh, breathing out with a trail of vapor.

                “Sans, you’re my brother. I will do anything to keep you happy and safe. Please, if you’d please just tell me how to help you-please.”

                The wind picked up again, carrying away the words in a sudden rush of air that streamed off into the abyss. For a moment, Papyrus once again stared down at the forest below and remembered what had occurred a while back with Sans and the door. According to him, the individual he would practice his knock-knock joke routine with simply stopped responding to any type of contact, or whatever he could try to talk to them regularly. He never said a word about what it meant until recently, when returning home from a nightly meeting with Mettaton in his personal office. Something happened, something was struck. For once, Sans seemed to care.

                “Sans?” questioned Papyrus. “What’s wrong?”

                “Nothing.” Said Sans, half smiling. “I’m trying to think about Mettaton’s Metta-ton of information.”

                He winked, but his walking pace seemed to slow.

                “Sans, are you okay? Come on brother, let’s get home for spaghetti! It’ll be fantastic.”

                He didn’t respond right away, but eventually said “Sure.”

                “And who knows! Maybe Undyne or Alyphs will show up! It would be nice having not seen them in forever! Perhaps even the human will arrive!” Said Papyrus, chipper as ever.

                Sans walked slowly and lightly behind the joyous and large strides of Papyrus, thinking furiously about what he had planned for the next long while. It was nothing major, but it still mattered to him at the very least, forcing him into a focused state of mind.

                From behind, Sans lightly tapped Papyrus’ back and said something nearly inaudible.

                “Yes? Speak up! I can’t here you very well.” He said, speaking over the running what of the nearby stream. “Are you all right?”

                “Papyrus, you know right?” Sans stopped walking suddenly. “You know Undyne and Alphys are gone? Right?”

                Papyrus stared blankly for a moment, launching into a spasm the next.

                “Of course not! Don’t be silly brother! They’ll return soon! Just-give them time!”

                He continued walking, as Sans stood facing the castle in the distance.

                “They’re gone, Papyrus.”

                He stood a few steps away, watching his brother motionlessly.

                “Sans, they are fine!”

                “They’re gone.”

                “Sans, this is unbelieveable! You know better than anyone else that our friends are strong and brave! Surely, they are wrapped up in some mission for Mettaton or retreating for the time being! Surely, Sans, you beli-“

                Despite his smile, visible tears were streaming from his eyes. Papyrus cut himself off, reaching to comfort his brother as he sat down alongside him.

                “The human.”

                “Yes. What about them?”

                “I talked to them about the lady, remember? You know.”

                “Yes, of course! The person you practice jokes with.”

                “Yeah. We talked in Mettaton’s place, and I mentioned her.” Sans’s face shifted suddenly.

                “He started to cry. He said he didn’t know. He said he was sorry.”

                Papyrus, although confused, embraced his brother in his arms as he began to quietly sob. He had never seen his older brother cry before.

                “He said he would fix it.”

                “Sans, I-“ Regardless of what he felt was right, Papyrus couldn’t respond. They sat in the twilight for several hours before heading home, and when they arrived Sans said nothing and went to his room.

                The wind died down once more on the cliff, allowing Papyrus to regain his breath and focus once again on his surroundings. Still nothing had changed; he was scared and felt as lonely as ever. Sans chose to not speak any further on the matter, and what made it even worse was his absence that morning. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, Papyrus simply wondered out of his homestead and to the old bridge nearby, once again taking up the responsibility of finding a human in hopes of asking them to fix everything if possible.

                Papyrus felt even sicker and confused recounting the previous night, and in the spur of the moment he headed home to find Sans, discuss his thoughts and learn more about what he had already heard. More so than ever before, it felt as if everything that had happened had no place in reality. The Underground gave up on their future and relinquished their hope. Even if the human returned, Papyrus began to wonder if anything could be reset to how it use to be.

                It all felt like a sick joke.


End file.
